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By Jim Frazier, Public Policy Director, The Arc / UCP California Collaboration
In today’s modern society, we are constantly evolving by learning from our past and making changes that get us closer to creating a world that reflects our vision of full inclusion and equality for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities. AB 248 (Mathis), The Dignity for All Act, is a bill that is another step in that direction. This bill would delete the terms “mentally retarded persons,” “mentally retarded children,” and “retardation” from all state legal code.
The term “mental retardation” was a definition established in about 1866, which was used by medical professionals to describe an individual with intellectual delays. Despite not typically being used in official context, “mental retardation” was still written in many of the United States’ laws and documents until October 5, 2010, when U.S. President Barack Obama signed into effect S. 2781, also known as Rosa’s Law. The bill changed references in federal law; the term mental retardation was replaced by mental disability. Additionally, the phrase “mentally retarded individual” was replaced with “an individual with an intellectual disability“. Rosa’s Law was named after Rosa Marcellino, a nine-year-old girl with Down syndrome. She worked with her parents to have the words “mentally retarded” officially removed from health and education code in Maryland, her home state. With this new law, “mental retardation” and “mentally retarded” no longer exist in federal health or education and labor policy. The rights of individuals with disabilities would remain the same. The goal of this change in phrasing was to remove language that may be considered derogatory to communities.
The Arc was on the forefront of change. In 1953, The Arc of the United States was founded as the National Association for Retarded Children. Over the years, the name was changed a couple more times until it assumed its present name, The Arc, in 1992. The Arc, was nearly 20 years ahead of the federal government by taking the step to remove the outdated term from its official name and communications. The “Arc” is not an acronym as some may think, but rather a symbol of connection. Through its advocacy work, the organization is dedicated to connecting people with disabilities and their families to the vital supports and services in their communities to achieve a better quality of life.
We applaud Assembly Member Devon Mathis for recognizing that California needed to make these important updates to its language with the passage of The Dignity for All Act, which is on the Governor’s desk awaiting his signature.